Digital Commons Network^™

Partial Depredations On Northern Bobwhite Nests, Susan Ellis-Felege, Anne Miller, Jonathan S. Burnam, Shane D. Wellendorf, D. Clay Sisson, William E. Palmer, John P. Carroll

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Partial clutch loss following a predation event is rarely studied in ground-nesting birds despite predation often being the leading cause of nest failure. Partial nest depredation occurs when predators attack but leave some eggs intact. Using continuous video monitoring, we documented a total of 372 initial predation events at nests of Northern Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus). From these, we observed a sample of partial nest pre-dation events (n=47). Partial predation events resulted in three outcomes: (1) The nest failed due to parental abandonment; (2) adult stayed with the nest, but clutch failed to hatch, usually due to further predation events; or …

Patterns Of Incubation Behavior In Northern Bobwhites (Colinus Virginianus), Jonathan S. Burnam, Gretchen Turner, Susan Ellis-Felege, William E. Palmer, D. Clay Sisson, John P. Carroll

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Patterns of incubation and nesting behavior for many species of birds, especially those with cryptic nests, have been difficult to obtain due to logistical and technological limitations. As a result, little is known about the daily attendance rhythms and behavioral patterns of many species, including the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), despite this species being one of the most studied birds in the world. Incubation represents parental investment in offspring, and a multitude of factors may affect investment behaviors, including reproductive ecology, sex and age of parent, habitat quality, clutch age, and timing in the nesting season. Most Northern Bobwhite nests …

Gross Primary Production And Ecosystem Respiration Of Irrigated And Rainfed Maize–Soybean Cropping Systems Over 8 Years, Andrew E. Suyker, Shashi B. Verma

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study is to examine interannual variability of carbon dioxide exchange and relevant controlling factors in irrigated and rainfed maize–soybean agroecosystems. The mean annual gross primary production (GPP) of irrigated and rainfed maize was 1796 ± 92 g C m⁻² y⁻¹ (±standard deviation) and 1536 ± 74 g C m⁻² y⁻¹, respectively. Mean annual GPP of soybean (average of irrigated and rainfed crops) was about 56% that of maize. Light use efficiency of maize and soybean during clear sky conditions were 1.96 ± 0.10 and 1.37 ± 0.06 g C MJ^{−1 …}

An Alternative Method Using Digital Cameras For Continuous Monitoring Of Crop Status, Toshihiro Sakamoto, Anatoly A. Gitelson, Anthony L. Nguy-Robertson, Timothy J. Arkebauer, Brian D. Wardlow, Andrew E. Suyker, Shashi B. Verma, Michio Shibayama

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Crop physiological and phenological status is an important factor that characterizes crop yield as well as carbon exchange between the atmosphere and the terrestrial biosphere in agroecosystems. It is difficult to establish high frequency observations of crop status in multiple locations using conventional approaches such as agronomical sampling and also remote sensing techniques that use spectral radiometers because of the labor intensive work required for field surveys and the high cost of radiometers designed for scientific use. This study explored the potential utility of an inexpensive camera observation system called crop phenology recording system (CPRS) as an alternative approach for …

Interpretation Of Hydrologic Trends From A Water Balance Perspective: The Role Of Groundwater Storage In The Budyko Hypothesis, Erkan Istanbulluoglu, Tiejun Wang, Olivia M. Wright, John D. Lenters

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We investigate the observed positive trends in annual runoff in several basins in central Nebraska using the Budyko hypothesis as a diagnostic tool. In basins where runoff is dominated by base flow we found that the estimated annual evapotranspiration (ET_a) to precipitation (P) ratio (ET_a/P) from data is negatively related to the aridity index (ET_p/P, where ET_p is potential annual evapotranspiration). This observation is inconsistent with the Budyko hypothesis. We hypothesized that the observed negative trend results from significant interannual changes in basin water storage. This hypothesis is tested using data from groundwater …

Family Structure And Risk Factors: An Investigation Into Emotional And Behavioural Outcomes For Nine-Year-Olds., Zara Lafferty

Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between family structure and risk factors for children’s emotional and behavioural outcomes at 9 years of age. Family structure in this study is defined as; married, separated, divorced, widowed and never married families. Three risk factors were identified from the literature; economic deprivation, maternal depression and life events. This study is a cross sectional quantitative analysis of the ‘Growing Up in Ireland’s’ child cohort (9 year olds) dataset. This is nationally representative sample of 9 year old children living in Ireland; the sample was collected through a two-stage, stratified random sampling approach. Of the 8,568 …

Dcard, The Leading Payback Card!, Amin Atwa, Abdallah Mohsen, Salma Abdelnasser, Madina Mohamed

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

D-Card is a payback card that is to be introduced to the Egyptian market as step one then expand to cover the Middle East and North Africa. The business is a two-sided platform with customers on one side benefiting from discounts that are dynamic and attractive, and stores on the other side benefiting from bigger market shares and free marketing. The company will make revenue from a portion of the revenue stores make from the card holders in return for the marketing and exposure the stores will get from being part of the network.

Weighing In: Coping With Stigmatization Through The Fat Acceptance Movement And Weight Loss Surgery, Jaelyn L. Forthun

Senior Theses

This study investigates the social movement, Fat Acceptance, and the personal experiences and discourse of members in online forums that discuss topics such as advocacy and personal struggles, as well as the personal experiences and discourse with members of online groups that went through, or are about to go through, weight-loss surgery. Five interviews with individuals from both groups were conducted for the study and allow for a more in-depth view into the individual experience, supplemented with observations from online blogs and forums. I found that the Fat Acceptance Movement and the WLS (weight loss surgery) community generally opposed discrimination …

2011-2012 President's Report, Mardi Mileham, Laura Davis

Presidential Reports

The Linfield College President's Annual Report is a collection of information about the year in review, including academics, student life and athletics, enrollment, finances, philanthropy, and leadership.

Biological Control Of Solenopsis Fire Ants By Pseudacteon Parasitoids: Theory And Practice, Lloyd W. Morrison

College of Natural and Applied Sciences

Pseudacteon parasitoids are potential biocontrol agents of invasive Solenopsis fire ants. Pseudacteon species that parasitize the invasive S. invicta Buren and S. richteri Forel have been introduced to, and naturally dispersed across, the southeastern USA, although there is no evidence yet that Solenopsis host ant populations have decreased. The ability of introduced Pseudacteon species to regulate Solenopsis populations will depend upon the relative importance of top-down effects in the recipient communities. In this paper, I examine the characteristics of the Pseudacteon/Solenopsis parasitoid/host system and evaluate the extent to which research findings are consistent with top-down control. Laboratory and field experiments …

The Lion 2012, Langston University

LU Yearbooks, 2010-

No abstract provided.

2011-2012 Revised Operating Budget: Southern University At Shreveport, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The Southern University at Shreveport 2011-2012 Revised Operating Budget and FY 2013-2013 Budget Request.

F1000 Journal Rankings: An Alternative Way To Evaluate The Scientific Impact Of Scholarly Communications, Sarah Huggett

Research Trends

A thorough discussion of the Faculty of 1000 approach to evaluating the quality of biomedical scientific articles based on expert opinion.

Citography: The Visualization Of Nineteen Thousand Journals Through Their Recent Citations, Matthew Richardson

Research Trends

This article shows visualizations of citation relationships between 19,000 journals indexed in Scopus.

Firm Size And Higher Education Graduate Employment In West Virginia 2010, George Hammond

Bureau of Business & Economic Research

No abstract provided.

Using The Public Natural Resource Management Laws To Improve Water Pollution Anti-Degradation Policies, Sandra Zellmer, Robert Glicksman

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

The Clean Water Act’s principal goal is to “restore and maintain” the integrity of the nation's surface water bodies. The Act’s adoption was spurred largely by the perception that unchecked pollution had caused the degradation of those waters, making them unsuitable for uses such as fishing and swimming. At the time Congress passed the statute, however, some lakes, rivers, and streams had water quality that was better than what was needed to support these uses. An important question was whether the statute would limit discharges with the potential to impair these high quality waters. EPA’s anti-degradation policy sought to ensure …

Wilderness, Water, And Climate Change, Sandi Zellmer

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

As the nation searches for climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, the pressure to develop water resources within wilderness areas and to exploit the timber, forage, wildlife, fish, and other virtually untapped components of wilderness will become more acute. This Article makes the case that managers and legislatures should not yield to this pressure and argues that, if anything, the need to preserve untrammeled wilderness characteristics is just as imperative today as it was in 1964 when the Wilderness Act was passed. The Article examines the potency of the Wilderness Act and a trio of federal water law doctrines—federally reserved water …

Joint Task Force In Reducing Human Trafficking, Jessica M. Lopez

Master in Management for Public Safety and Homeland Security Professionals Master's Projects

This Master‟s level thesis paper discusses the important topic of human trafficking. As this paper will explore, human trafficking is a very heinous crime that involves women, children and families and is a crime against humanity. It involves the illegal trading of human beings for personal gain in the form of forced labor, sexual exploitation and even slavery. Each and every year human beings are recruited, tricked, transferred and harbored as slaves. This is an international crime and each country is affected by trafficking, whether it is as a country of destination, transit or origin destination for victims.

A Critical Review On Corrosion Of Compression Ignition (Ci) Engine Parts By Biodiesel And Biodiesel Blends And Its Inhibition, B. Singh, John Korstad, Y. C. Sharma

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

This paper reviews the effects of corrosion on the engine parts that come in contact with a newly developed biodiesel fuel and its petrodiesel blend. Copper, aluminum, copper alloys (bronze), and elastomers caused significant levels of corrosiveness in biodiesel and biodiesel blend as opposed to low corrosion with petrodiesel. Specimens of stainless steel showed significant resistance to corrosion in biodiesel samples as compared to copper, aluminum, and copper alloys, but the level of corrosion was still higher than that in petrodiesel. Common methods adopted for measurement of corrosion include weight loss through static emersion tests, and electrochemical techniques by electrochemical …

A Pedagogy Of Freedom: Why Primary School Teachers Should Embrace Educational Emancipation, Doireann O'Connor

Education Conference Papers

Rich stories of learning journeys that arose from a Life History Research Project resulted in the development of a growing awareness on the part of the author in the role that freedom can productively play within the primary school classroom. The stories that adults told of their most memorable learning experiences almost exclusively occurred outside of the classroom within play and social situations where they were free to engage in a meaningful and personalised learning experience. Learning stories involving risk and even danger, conflict and resolution, freedom from supervision and responsibility as a self-regulated mantle of growing maturity were common …

The South African Constitutional Court And The Unborn, S De Freitas

Law Papers and Journal Articles

The South African Constitutional Court has not yet been confronted with having to make a finding on the status of the unborn against the background of the South African Bill of Rights. Expecting that the Constitutional Court will sometime in the future be approached in this regard, this article presents some preparatory foundational insights on what the approach of the said Court should be. In this regard, the law-making function of the judiciary and the importance of an informative and rational approach towards the protection of the unborn in the judicial process are emphasised. A more nuanced approach by the …

Microrna Expression Profile And Differentially-Expressed Genes In Prolactinomas Following Bromocriptine Treatment, Chengde Wang, Zhipeng Su, Nader Sanai, Xiangyang Xue, Lijun Lu, Yunxiang Chen, Jinsen Wu, Weiming Zheng, Qichuan Zhuge, Zhe Bao Wu

Neurosurgery

Little is known about the function of microRNAs in prolactinomas treated with bromocriptine. The aim of the study was to explore the microRNAs associated with bromocriptine-treated prolactinomas. Six prolactinoma samples were selected according to whether they received bromocriptine treatment or not before microsurgery, and microRNA expression profiles of bromocriptine-treated and untreated prolactinomas were screened by the miRCURY LNA Array. The differentially expressed microRNAs in microarrays were further validated by stem-loop real-time PCR and subjected to gene ontology analysis and KEGG pathway analysis. In addition, related genes of microRNAs were analyzed by qRT-PCR in 15 prolactinoma samples. The initial analysis by …

2012-2014 College Catalog, St. Norbert College

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Seven Faces Of Sin: A Study Guide To Biblical Models For How Evil Originates And How It Can Be Overcome, Scott Gambrill Sinclair

Faculty Authored Books and Book Contributions

This book began as a series of classes that I gave to the monks at New Camaldoli Hermitage, Big Sur, California. The monks encouraged me to publish the material. Later when I was teaching a course on the New Testament at the School for Deacons in Berkeley, I remarked that every preacher should preach on "sin" at least twice a year. My students seemed surprised and intrigued and asked me to explain. I attempted to do so briefly, but the explanation was not adequate. Later another member of the faculty heard that I thought that deacons should at least occasionally …

The Number Of X Chromosomes Causes Sex Differences In Adiposity In Mice, Jenny Link, Xuqi Chen, Rebecca Mcclusky, Simon W. Beaven, Peter Tontonoz, Arthur P. Arnold, Karen Reue

Biology

Sexual dimorphism in body weight, fat distribution, and metabolic disease has been attributed largely to differential effects of male and female gonadal hormones. Here, we report that the number of X chromosomes within cells also contributes to these sex differences. We employed a unique mouse model, known as the “four core genotypes,” to distinguish between effects of gonadal sex (testes or ovaries) and sex chromosomes (XX or XY). With this model, we produced gonadal male and female mice carrying XX or XY sex chromosome complements. Mice were gonadectomized to remove the acute effects of gonadal hormones and to uncover effects …

Macroevolutionary Dynamics And Historical Biogeography Of Primate Diversification Inferred From A Species Supermatrix, Christopher A. Emerling, Mark S. Springer, Robert W. Meredith, John Gatesy, Jong Park, Daniel L. Rabosky, Tanja Stadler, Cynthia Steiner, Oliver A. Ryder, Jan E. JanecˇKa, Colleen A. Fisher, William J. Murphy

Biology

Phylogenetic relationships, divergence times, and patterns of biogeographic descent among primate species are both complex and contentious. Here, we generate a robust molecular phylogeny for 70 primate genera and 367 primate species based on a concatenation of 69 nuclear gene segments and ten mitochondrial gene sequences, most of which were extracted from GenBank. Relaxed clock analyses of divergence times with 14 fossil-calibrated nodes suggest that living Primates last shared a common ancestor 71–63 Ma, and that divergences within both Strepsirrhini and Haplorhini are entirely post-Cretaceous. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction of non-avian dinosaurs …

Lawrence University Course Catalog, 2012-2013, Lawrence University

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Southern Adventist University Undergraduate Catalog 2012-2013, Southern Adventist University

Catalog, Undergraduate

Southern Adventist University's undergraduate catalog for the academic year 2012-2013.

On The Specificity Of Heparin/Heparan Sulfate Binding To Proteins. Anion-Binding Sites On Antithrombin And Thrombin Are Fundamentally Different, Philip D. Mosier, Chandravel Krishnasamy, Glen E. Kellogg, Umesh R. Desai

Medicinal Chemistry Publications

Background

The antithrombin–heparin/heparan sulfate (H/HS) and thrombin–H/HS interactions are recognized as prototypic specific and non-specific glycosaminoglycan (GAG)–protein interactions, respectively. The fundamental structural basis for the origin of specificity, or lack thereof, in these interactions remains unclear. The availability of multiple co-crystal structures facilitates a structural analysis that challenges the long-held belief that the GAG binding sites in antithrombin and thrombin are essentially similar with high solvent exposure and shallow surface characteristics.

Methodology

Analyses of solvent accessibility and exposed surface areas, gyrational mobility, symmetry, cavity shape/size, conserved water molecules and crystallographic parameters were performed for 12 X-ray structures, which include 12 …

Pyridoxal 5′-Phosphate Is A Slow Tight Binding Inhibitor Of E. Coli Pyridoxal Kinase, Mohini S. Ghatge, Roberto Contestabile, Martino L. Di Salvo, Jigar V. Desai, Amit Gandhi, Christina M. Camara, Rita Florio, Isabel N. Gonzalez, Alessia Parroni, Verne Schirch, Martin A. Safo

Medicinal Chemistry Publications

Pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) is a cofactor for dozens of B6 requiring enzymes. PLP reacts with apo-B6 enzymes by forming an aldimine linkage with the ε-amino group of an active site lysine residue, thus yielding the catalytically active holo-B6 enzyme. During protein turnover, the PLP is salvaged by first converting it to pyridoxal by a phosphatase and then back to PLP by pyridoxal kinase. Nonetheless, PLP poses a potential toxicity problem for the cell since its reactive 4′-aldehyde moiety forms covalent adducts with other compounds and non-B6 proteins containing thiol or amino groups. The regulation of PLP homeostasis in the cell …